Hamas Terrorist's Family to Sue Over Israeli Spy Thriller

Relatives of Hamas member Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, killed in a Dubai hit in 2010, plan to block release of movie about the hit.

By Elad Benari

First Publish: 5/21/2012, 6:43 AM

Hamas terrorists

Flash 90

Relatives of a Hamas terrorist said on Sunday they will seek to block the release of a movie being made in Israel about his 2010 assassination in a Dubai luxury hotel, The Associated Press reported.

The killing of Hamas member Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was widely blamed on Israel's Mossad spy agency, which never confirmed or denied involvement. The movie being made on the assassination features Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli as a temptress working for the hit team.

Al-Mabhouh’s cousin, Ahmed, told AP on Sunday that the Israeli movie is a “Zionist conspiracy” to defame his cousin. Ahmed, who lives in Gaza, added that details of the suit, including where to file it, are still being worked out.

The movie's producer, Micha Scharfstein, dismissed the allegations, saying the movie takes artistic license and is not meant to be factual.

“Mabhouh, from our point of view, was a murderer with blood on his hands, and I don't see any reason not to do a movie about it,” he told AP. He added that the French-Israeli co-production, entitled “Kidon” (Hebrew for spear), is to be released in about half a year.

Al-Mabhouh was killed on Jan. 19, 2010, in a Dubai hotel room. Dubai police later released hotel camera footage showing the assassination team, wearing disguises and tracking its target. Authorities said al-Mabhouh was apparently injected with a muscle relaxant and suffocated with a pillow.

Parts of the movie are now being filmed in the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat. In a movie plot twist, a gang of criminals murders al-Mabhouh in an attempt to frame the Mossad.

Ahmed al-Mabhouh told AP the family learned about the movie from the media and hopes to prevent its release.

“We consider this movie ... a distortion of our late martyr and reject the Zionist conspiracy against him after his death which everyone knows is a lie,” he said.